As part of the international initiative to develop a Justice Rapid Response (JRR) mechanism, No Peace Without Justice as the Interim JRR Secretariat, in close cooperation with the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship; CAECOPAZ (the Argentine Joint Peacekeeping Training Centre); the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF); and the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI), conducted a JRR Training Course for experts in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 7 to 16 May 2010. The Course was conducted with financial support from the governments of Canada and Australia and the European Union, and the support of the JRR Coordinating Group. The Course was held at the training campus of CAECOPAZ, the Argentine Joint Peacekeeping Training Centre.

The purpose of the meeting was to certify criminal and related justice experts for inclusion on the JRR Roster. The experts will learn how to apply their expertise to JRR situations and international criminal justice-related deployment, after which they can be added to the JRR roster, helping to expand the pool of expertise represented on the roster.

The course was attended by twenty-four experts in various aspects of international criminal investigations from 16 countries (Argentina, Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Italy, Peru, Sierra Leone , Switzerland, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, USA). The training sessions were led by a range of presenters including from NPWJ, the Government of Canada, University of Galway (Ireland), the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) and the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI). Observers from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Crisis Group (ICG) also attended the workshop.

The course concluded with the 24 participants from every region of the world being certified to the JRR Roster. With the increase in deployable experts to 66 and the diversification of expertise available, JRR is steadily becoming more and more operational and expanding the potential situations in which JRR experts could be deployed.

JRR is an international cooperative mechanism for the supply of voluntary assistance at the request of a State or international institution, where the identification, collection and preservation of information would assist a wide range of international and transitional justice options. The JRR is a stand-by facility developed to enhance the international community's ability to assist in the provision of accountability processes for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and to ensure that international justice plays an integral role in post-conflict peace building.

In order to facilitate cooperation of partners in the JRR mechanism, No Peace Without Justice is acting as the Interim JRR Secretariat until modalities for coordination are further developed among the JRR participants or an international organisation may be in a position to take over the coordination and implementation of the JRR mechanism.

For further information, contact Alison Smith on asmith@npwj.org or +32-2-548 39 12 or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32-2-548-3913.